Two weeks until go-time!

It looks like everything is now good to go for the stem cell donation. Last week I had a physical exam, EKG, chest xray, blood and urine tests to make sure that I am healthy enough to go through with it. I passed! In a couple of weeks, I will start getting shots of filgrastim for five days. Filgrastim causes your body to release more stem cells into the bloodstream, which could then be collected on the fifth day. The most common side effect of filgrastim is bone and muscle pain.

The stem cells will be collected through a process called apheresis. Basically, blood is drawn from one arm, and goes into a machine which separates out the stem cells. The remaining blood is then returned into the second arm. The process should take 4-5 hours. To pass the time, there will be a TV/DVD player in front of my seat, so I should be able to get through a couple of movies while donating.

As soon as the stem cells are collected, someone from the bone marrow center will immediately hand-carry it on a plane to wherever in the world the patient is. The patient will have been going through a week of hardcore chemotherapy drugs to get her body ready to accept the stem cells. The transplant will happen upon arrival of the stem cells. It's pretty amazing how all this works, specifically how the timing is synchronized between donor and patient.

Are you on the bone marrow registry? It is so easy is to join. A simple form, a few health questions, and a swab from your cheek is all it takes. It can even be done over the phone and through the mail, if you can't make it to a center in person. In addition, due to the great need of minorities in the registry, all minorities and mixed-race individuals can join the registry for free. Check out marrow.org for more details, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. For those in the Bay Area, you can simply let me know if you're interested, and I can have Stanford Blood Center contact you directly to join.

Magic sheet of paper

How come pretty much everyone I know has had less than ideal experiences with consulate offices of India and Pakistan? It's always the same thing: inefficient queuing, confusing instructions, unnecessary delays, unfriendly and unhelpful staff, etc. I had to endure some of this when getting a Pakistan visa last year for my short trip to Karachi (photos). It seems as though they try really hard to recreate a third world atmosphere in the consulate office.

The outsourcing of India visa processing in the US (at least the front end portion) seems to have addressed the issue altogether: first world customer service for a third world visa. Excellent!

I had to give the Pakistan consulate a chance to provide a similar painless experience. I decided to apply for a Pakistani national ID card so I would not need a visa when traveling there and would also serve as official identification while in the country. It is probably not a good idea now days to flash a US passport too often while visiting Pakistan.

There are no less than 4 different ID cards: NIC (National ID Card), CNIC (Computerized National ID Card), NICOP (National ID Card for Overseas Pakistanis), and the POC (Pakistan Origin Card). [I think there is a fifth older one as well]. I went through various official Pakistan websites (which were not always consistent) to figure out which card I should get. The POC is meant for foreign citizens who originate from Pakistan (valid 7 years, $100). The NICOP is required for all Pakistani citizens living abroad, including those that are dual-nationals, i.e. citizens of Pakistan and another country (valid 10 years, $15). I opted for the NICOP, as it was valid for 10 years, was much cheaper, and would allow me to renew my Pakistani passport if I ever wished to do so.

A few notes about the application process:

• The form was mostly in English, except for a mandatory Urdu section (doh!) which was just a repeat of all the names on the application. Thankfully my friend Akbar came to the rescue.
• Self-imprinted left thumb print - it was strange to fingerprint myself on an government application without an official witnessing or notarizing
• Lots of supporting materials - birth certificate, copies of US and old Pakistani passport, parents' ID cards (luckily my mom had one), and the "magic sheet of paper"
• Magic sheet of paper - When I was in Dallas visiting family last month, I randomly came across a cryptic 25-year old sheet of paper in my parents' files, entirely in Urdu, that contained old ID card numbers for my parents and the children. Well, it turns out that sheet of paper is required in order to get a NICOP card, as it contains my old ID number. Friends recently told me that they couldn't get the card without that specific sheet of paper, and the consulate has no way to retrieve that paper otherwise. I still have no idea what the paper is for. Very fortunate that I came across it.

Let's see if I get the ID card before my next trip to Pakistan (if at all). Since the application has to go to Pakistan for processing, the website says it takes 3-4 months to get the card.

Opportunity to make a difference

It is a great privilege to be given an opportunity to make a difference in someone's life, much less save their life. I was recently asked to attempt to do so.

Four years ago, my father passed away after a tough yearlong battle with Leukemia. Soon after he was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), we were told that only chance he had was to get a bone marrow (stem cell) transplant from a matching donor. However, finding a suitable donor would be nearly impossible, since he did not have any full siblings, and there were very few South Asians in the bone marrow registry. Surprisingly, the doctors were able to find a match in the registry and my father was able to get the transplant. Ultimately, the transplant did not work and he passed away. However, my family was immensely grateful to the anonymous donor who tried to help someone s/he did not know. I hoped that someday, I could do the same for a patient and so I registered with the National Bone Marrow Program.

Almost 3 years later, the time has come. I was found to be a match for a forty-something year-old woman with AML. That’s all I will ever know about the patient. Over the next few weeks, I will undergo further testing and preparation for the donation. I think of this as a privilege. Considering what the patient has likely endured thus far and will go through, my part seems trivial. It is not too often that you are given the chance to possibly make a big difference in someone’s life.

Are you a part of the bone marrow registry? Do you know how easy it is to join? I call out to everyone, especially South Asians, to join the registry, as South Asians are significantly under-represented in the registry. Check out marrow.org for more information. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a note.

ameristani.com technicals

The site is basically setup now. I’m sure I will keep tweaking and adding things to the site but essentially the core is done. In the past, I have always used webhosting companies, wordpress, gallery, etc. for my domains. However, no matter which webhost I used, there were always technical issues, downtime, significant manual configuration, tech support calls, etc. This time I wanted to avoid the hassle and use existing web services using my own domain. Here are a few details about the components I used to put it together.

• Blogger with custom domain: Easy to setup, great online tools, owned by Google [free]
• Google Apps: Provides gmail (woohoo!), calendar, docs, and more for custom domain [free]
• Domain ameristani.com registered using Google Apps [$10/yr private registration]
• Feedburner for feeds and email delivery, owned by Google [free]
• Flickr for photos [$25/yr for pro]

It was fairly straightforward to set everything up, except for a couple of things. Even though Google Apps and Blogger are both owned by Google, they do not know about the existence of each other when using a custom domain. A big pain was getting ameristani.com to forward to www.ameristani.com. After some tweaking and trial and error, I think I have everything working.

Flick'it!

I was debating between using Google's Picasaweb or Yahoo's Flickr to post photos for this blog. I opted for Flickr and decided to upgrade to pro ($25/yr), which allows unlimited upload bandwidth, storage, and collections/sets.

Check out a few sets I posted from 2007 travel.

Outsourcing works!

My last post discussed the advantages of having a US passport. I was able to test that further, as I recently applied for an Indian visa. I have a friend getting married in Delhi in April. Since I have never been to India, I thought this was a perfect opportunity. It's no surprise that Pakistani citizens have difficulty in getting Indian visas. However, I had also heard stories first hand about the difficulties of Pakistani-born US citizens as well.

I applied in person at Travisa Outsourcing in San Francisco. I find it amusing that the Indian consulate outsources their visa collection and delivery services to another company. I was told that although I was a US citizen, since I was born in Pakistan, the maximum duration visa I could apply for is 6 months (vs. 5 years for US citizen not born in Pakistan) and that it would take 72 hours to process (vs. same day otherwise). I could live with that. I know of two cases of Ameristani friends that had issues recently: one was given a 30 day visa after multiple exchanges with the consulate, and the second was given a 3 month visa, both of which expired before they were able to go India.

Crossing my fingers, I impatiently waited. Right on schedule, Travisa called my cell phone and left me a voicemail indicating that my 6 month visa was ready to pick up. I was also able to track my application using their fantastic online tracking system, which updated you through each step in the visa processing (similar to FedEx/UPS with package delivery). Overall, it was very pleasant and straightforward experience getting the visa. Travisa provided great customer service and were very efficient...all for a $13 fee.

Now only if the Pakistan consulate would outsource their visa processing. My experience last year getting a Pakistani visa was a pain. If you have ever been to a Pakistan consulate, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

The blue book that's worth its weight in gold

Less than a third of Americans have passports, and less than 10% have ever left the US. That statistic amazes me along with most non-American travelers I have met during my travels. I suspect that in other western countries, the percentage for both stats is significantly higher.

When I became a naturalized US citizen, I could not wait to get my hands on a US passport and applied only a couple of days after my oath ceremony. I found myself incredibly fortunate to finally have a passport that allowed me to travel most of the world without much hassle. Most countries would not even require a visa ahead of time before entering the country - what a novel concept!

Such is not the case when traveling on a Pakistani passport. Visas must be obtained prior to travel to most places (and rejections due to vague reasons are not uncommon). Upon entry and exit into each country, you are subject to additional questioning, numerous baggage searches, special registration, etc.

I will never forget one horrific experience traveling on a Pakistani passport from Dallas to Karachi via Boston, Paris, Cairo, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and Masqat. (Yes, that was the actual routing! After that trip, I never let anyone else book travel for me again.)

It took three days to get to Karachi with overnights in Paris and Cairo airports. In Paris, the aircraft for our flight to Cairo was 14 hours late. Most passengers were bused to a hotel in Paris, took a city tour, had a nice meal, and came back refreshed to the airport just before the flight departed. A few of us traveling on non-US/EU passports, on the other hand, were asked to wait in a transit lounge and were given a ~$10 food allowance.

When we finally reached Cairo, my plan was to spend the night at a nearby hotel and go on a short tour of the pyramids before my flight the next day. Upon arrival into the Cairo airport, our passports and plane tickets were taken from us until our flight the next day, and we were again asked to wait in the transit lounge overnight and half the next day.

Three days, two airport overnights, and countless baggage searches later, I arrived in Karachi, vowing to apply for a US passport as soon as I was eligible (and to never fly TWA again)!

To the Americans out there that don't have a passport: Do you realize how fortunate you are to be able to get a US passport? Get one right away and explore the world!

What's in a name...Kal?

There are three things I find worth mentioning about the name Kal.

Kal (pronounced same as the English name Cal) is often used as the short version of various Indian names (Kalpesh, Kalyani, etc). I have found that many Indian Americans use Kal instead of their full name as it is easier to pronounce for westerners, e.g. Indian American actor Kal Penn whose first name is actually Kalpen.

Kal (pronounced "cull" with a soft-K) is also an interesting hindi/urdu word, as it has dual meaning. Depending on context, it can mean 'yesterday' or 'tomorrow'. For example, kal I ran 10 miles, and hence kal I will be in pain. I found this word very relevant to me, as I find myself constantly reminiscent and sentimental about the past, while always obsessed with the future and what's next. As a result, I often find myself unable to live in the present and embrace today for what it is.

The University of California, Berkeley is also referred to as Cal (Cal...Kal...close enough). Ironically, I attended its nemesis across the Bay.

What is an Ameristani?

An Ameristani is an AMERI-can Paki-STANI (at least in my case). The term could certainly apply to any American of a "-stani" country origin.

I was born in Pakistan and immigrated to the US when I was very young. I have spent most of my life in the US, and was raised as an American, while maintaining ties to Pakistani culture, language to some extent, and most important food! In most respects, I feel like an American, talk like an American, and think like an American (albeit a liberal, world-aware, west-coast one). However, I look like a Pakistani (or Indian, South Asian...all the same race as far as I am concerned).

Whenever I travel outside the US and am asked where I am from, it always requires a paragraph to answer. If I say I am from Pakistan, I inevitably get asked questions about cricket, Pakistani politics, and other topics that I am mostly unfamiliar with. If I say I am American, then there is always a "say what?" moment, as that is not what most people were expecting from a brown guy. "But where are you really from?" is usually the followup question.

Hence, I am Ameristani. My purpose for this site is to log my quest to better understand my identity, origins, heritage, etc.

[The other option "Pakican" sounded either like a South Asian tropical bird or somewhat of a racial slur.]

Today is the first day...

...of 2008, of this site, and of the rest of my life (I know...cliche). January 1st seems to be an appropriate day to start this blog. This year promises to be a very exciting year, full of new adventures, personal growth, fulfillment of life-long dreams, and new beginnings. I hope to elaborate more on all of this in future posts.

I still have quite a bit of setup to do for this site, and I will be working on that over the next few weeks. Stay tuned....